Ukraine Says 3 More Soldiers Killed By Rebel Attacks In East

Ukraine's military said on May 17 that three of its soldiers were killed and 17 wounded during the previous 24 hours in eastern Ukraine by separatist attacks that violate the Minsk ceasefire agreement.

Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said two of the deaths were the result of a mortar attack near the town of Svitlodarsk to the northeast of separate-controlled Donetsk.

Rebel leaders on May 17 accused government forces of shelling their positions at strategic crossroads in eastern Ukraine.

The violence comes a day after Ukraine's military accused the Russian-backed separatists of continuing attacks against government forces outside Donetsk and at Shyrokyne, to the east of the government-held coastal city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on May 13 that 83 Ukrainian servicemen have been killed in rebel attacks since February when the Minsk cease-fire deal was meant to come into force.